It is true that Las Casas did not at Valladolid attempt to defend
the character of all people in the world, nor did he work
there for any liberty except Indian liberty, but all through
his writings he fought the idea that slavery was good
for the men he saw in the New World, whether Indians or Negroes.
He once, early in his career, advised that Negroes born
as slaves in Spain should be brought to work in America to
spare the Indians, but soon after declared that,
since learning that the Portuguese had captured and enslaved
them unjustly, he now believed
ěthat it is unjust to enslave Negroes
as it is to enslave Indians,and for the same reasons.î
Lewis Hanke, 1949
| Previous slide | Next slide | Back to first slide | View graphic version |